No parallels can be drawn between Karabakh and Crimea (video)

Ruben Hakobyan, Head of the opposition Heritage faction, thinks Crimea can serve as precedent in the Karabakh peace process and Armenians should draw lessons from the Crimean events.

Stepan Margaryan, an MP of the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), says the ‘world will not allow one conflict to be resolved by the scenario of another conflict.’

Gagik Jahangiryan, an MP of the Armenian National Congress (HAK), says the two conflicts have different grounds: Karabakh people were tormented and tortured in their own land –Karabakh, while Russians did not encounter that problem in Crimea.

“Russians are not pressurized in Crimea where they make up a majority of the population,” he said.

Ukrainian diplomat Alexander Bozhko adds that Armenians were intimidated and displaced from Crimea during the reign of Catherine II (Catherine the Great).

“Do you remember how Stalin treated the same Armenians and Tatars? He brought people from Central Russia and inhabited Crimea with them,” said the former Ukrainian Ambassador to Armenia.

Political scientist Davit Shahnazaryan says the Karabakh conflict should not be compared with the Crimean standoff. “You cannot draw parallels between these two; it is simply provocation against Armenia and Artsakh.” Mr. Shahnazaryan added that no one made Russia to enter Crimea; this is merely aggression without provocation.